When Dragons Meet
by ingol
Summary: After the Holy Grail War, King Arthur chased after Beast VI through worlds and found himself in a world where angels and devils (and gods) run rampant.


You never knew where you would go next. Not for world-hoppers, not for drifters, and especially not for dimension-hopping kings chasing after a budding evil.

When a being from another world enters a world where it already exists… What happens?

Sometimes, a paradox occurs and one of the beings is erased from reality. Sometimes, both individuals manage to exist at the same time for they are the same and yet different. Sometimes, the two beings will meld and form a new being that is both and yet not.

From one world, the Beast of Revelations was born. Soon after, it jumped from world to world to escape its pursuer. As a Beast, it should have enough power to destroy this particular pursuer, but it was young and had yet to come into its abilities before it was killed again and again, having to restart from the checkpoint once more.

In this world, a being of evil existed, slumbering under uncountable layers of seals. The two beings, both by the name of Trihexa, were never supposed to meet, much less fuse together.

But they did.

* * *

In the same world, a great dragon opened his eyes. Something foreign had made past his home, unannounced, uninvited. That something… reminded him of an entity of evil, a being that could match his power.

Barely moments after, a human carrying the blood of a dragon emerged from the other-space, seemingly intent on chasing after that entity.

Great Red watched all this, and settled himself on watching a very interesting show.

* * *

Saber opened his eyes. Another world. This seemingly never-ending battle against Beast VI was starting to take its toll. He glanced around, taking in the sights and the people. So this world was populated. It came with mixed feelings. He was tired of treading around ruins, but with people around, the chances of an innocent getting caught in the crossfire rose drastically.

Saber dematerialized his armour and sword, and instead donned the casual clothing that Ayaka had once insisted upon. Despite himself, Saber found himself smiling at the precious bygone memories.

Merlin's magic filled him in on the details of this world where a Holy Grail usually would. A great battle between angels and devils…

'Be careful. There is much more to this world than meets the eye. Depending on how it's fought, the war you've been fighting might end here, Arthur.'

Well, that was as foreboding as Merlin's prophecies tended to be.

"Where is the Beast then, Merlin?"

'Hmm, you see,' Merlin started cheerfully and Arthur felt exasperation build up, 'the thing is, it's pretty much impossible to get to that thing right now. So why don't you take this chance to relax? Yep, relaxing would be good for you, wouldn't want my cute little King Arthur to get grey hairs from stress, you know?'

Even despite being a Heroic Spirit? Arthur had his doubts but kept silent anyway; there was no point in arguing against Merlin.

"Where am I?"

A pause. 'Why don't you put that mind of yours to work, Arthur? Wouldn't do for me to keep feeding you answers, right? Besides, it's about time for me to wake up anyways. So much to do, but that's the beauty of living forever, don't you agree?'

This time, Arthur couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips.

* * *

Japan, Kuoh city.

For some reason, Arthur had the feeling that he was being watched. Surely people wouldn't have already suspected that he was as out of place as he felt?

Oddly enough, he kept finding himself surrounded by women. It made sense of course, spies were meant to be discreet and who better for the job than a woman?

Then again, he doubted that spies would ask him where he was from, if he was seeing anyone and so on…

Worlds away, in a certain tower, Merlin laughed.

* * *

Somehow, through a series of events, Arthur found himself sitting in a ramen store eating with a high-school boy and a nun.

"It's really cool how you went bam and then saved Asia from those thugs, you know." The boy, Issei, was saying.

"It was my duty. I could hardly walk past a damsel in distress." Arthur said and preoccupied himself with eating.

"Man, you foreigners always have this fancy way of speaking. You're pretty good at speaking Japanese, you know?"

The nun, Asia nodded, a flush on her cheeks.

Arthur finished off the bowl of ramen. "I spent some time in Japan." He looked longingly at Issei's bowl before shaking off the temptation. He was already getting a free meal, no need to burden a child- teenager any more.

"Huh. What for?"

"Ah… There was, this woman…" Arthur trailed off, not sure of how exactly to begin explaining the mess with Manaka to a civilian.

"You got yourself a girl, huh? Lucky bastard." Issei's next words made Arthur freeze. Issei seemed to notice his misstep, for he hurriedly corrected himself. "Uh, shit, sorry. You broke up?"

"…It's complicated." Arthur eventually decided on.

Asia reached out for Arthur's hands and held them in her own small ones. "May God watch over you and grant you happiness from your suffering." She said in slightly accented English.

"Thank you." Arthur said politely and pretended not to notice how Issei flinched. "May God bless you." The saying was an unfamiliar one, but still stemmed from the god he had worshipped when he was still alive.

Of course, he had encountered several gods of differing religions by now, and even though he had barely committed to the religion when he was alive, it didn't do much to change his conceptions of an almighty entity watching over the world.

Asia's expression shifted to one of delight.

Guilt started to fester in him. The teachings of the religion at the time had been too… peaceful. By modern standards, he would have been a sinner many times over.

"I'm gonna take Asia to the church. What 'bout you? Where are you going?" Issei's question snapped Arthur out of his thoughts and produced yet another conundrum. "Hey… Did your girlfriend kick you out?"

Arthur opened his mouth then closed it.

Issei's look became even more sympathetic.

"You can come to the church!" Asia chirped. "The church is always open to believers and they can provide you free lodging!"

"Thank you for your kindness. I shall be troubling you then."

Then, Arthur's stomach growled.

"…"

"…"

"…Want another bowl?"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Nah, eat all you want. I promised to treat you after all."

Issei had never regretted saying anything more.


End file.
